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Unwilling Seduction

I entered my apartment, gently closing the door behind me. This was in stark contrast to my mind and heart, which were both racing at a mile a minute. Really, I wanted to slam the door behind me, rush through the place, throw a few things around, anything to allow me to express my anxiety, but the fact was, the place was bugged and if Argus was the one who bugged my place and was listening in at that very moment, the sting would be off and, if the Agent was good on his word, and I had no reason to believe he would not be, I'd end up in a Vulpeculan prison where I'd either get shived and/or forcefully romanced repeatedly. The Agent was a good guy, but he had a funny way of showing it some times.

So now it was up to me to get into Argus's place, seduce him, and find evidence. I didn't even know what men did when flirting with other men, but then, of course, Argus's attraction was one-sided and it didn't seem to stop him. Perhaps all I'd have to do is show up, act submissive and one thing would lead to another. I never thought I'd say it, but I kind of wished I had the time to watch some gay, Sirian porn to see if I could pick up some lines.

I grabbed my tool bag and went to the storage rack in my bedroom. I scooped up a bundle of USBs with bootable password reset software, along with a few Galactic Serial Bus (The Imperial standard) drives with similar software for ImperalStandardOS, WhiteStarOS, and a few others. I didn't have much experience with alien operating systems, but it stood to reason that he might have one and if so, I'd have to navigate it using a translator on my phone. The past weeks have not given me any time to improve my Regulian written proficiency and I didn't know a word of Sirian or Lupus.

Lastly, I opened up the small kit that the Agent gave me. A folded, paper note popped up and I took it out, unraveling it. A USB and a GSB drive fell out onto my palm.

“Use this when you need to leave or if you run into trouble.

Install the software on the drives on all computers you find.

There will be no rescue party.

Long live the Empire.

Destroy this note."

Following this was a list of email addresses and FTP links which I took a picture of. The writing was in English and very messy and child-like. I presumed it came from the Agent's claw's. I couldn't judge him. Without even thinking, I found that I had shredded the paper and made my way to the toilet, where I flushed the remaining bits down.

Looking further into the kit, I found two automatic syringes. All I'd have to do is press it against Argus's neck and it would inject itself. I presumed it was a sleeping formula, but there was no label on it. I stuffed it into the bottom of my tool bag, making sure it was well-hidden.

This was all getting very real. I leaned against the sink, opened the faucet and splashed water on my face. I needed to keep cool. This was my life on the line.

I wiped my face clean, feeling a slight pain as it ran over my cheek. It still hurt, occasionally, ever since I got that “Wolf-bite," but it didn't normally sting this bad.

That was when I noticed I was rubbing the wrong cheek.

Pulling the cloth away, I revealed my smooth, unscarred cheek and found that I had grown a mole on it. Carefully, I probed it with my fingernail and found the under-section of it. Of course they would have bugged me.

Part of me wanted to remove it, but I decided against it. Perhaps if they found me dead in a ditch, at least they'd have enough evidence to know that I did my duty and I'd get an honorable funeral. Or at the very least, I wouldn't be thrown in prison for tampering with Claw property.

This was it. I left the apartment and locked the door behind me. I got in the elevator and pressed the button for the penthouse floor.

The wait was excruciating. I didn't want to be here. I wanted to be back home working on my next big job. I wanted to spend my earnings on good food and drink. I wanted Rit…

Sighing, I pushed her out of my mind. Now, of all times, I could not get hung up on her. It was best to leave that for later, after I'd gotten out of here.

With a ding, the doors slid open and I was greeted by the lone door at the end of the short corridor. Sighing heavily, I walked up and knocked on the door.

There was no answer. Not a sound.

I knocked again, slightly faster. This was not what I expected. If the mission were to fail now…

I rapidly tapped on the door, pleading silently for an answer.

Eventually, the lock rattled and the door creaked open.

Argus was standing there, his tan and black chest thick with fur, save for the slight gaps where his rows of nipples were; wearing nothing more than a pair of formal trousers on. His bushy, brown tail escaped from the back and it gently wagged once at the sight of me.

“Nate? What are you doing here?"

“I..." I began to speak, stammering as I was still nervous from the mission objective, “I had a job and it was canceled and uh..."

He cocked his head, scratching at a patch of gray on his otherwise black muzzle, “Yes, but why are you here?"

“I...I don't know!" I cried out. This was no act, I really was just about on the verge of tears. I tried to get in character and focused on Argus when he was helping me out, when he was showing me the greeting and was inviting me to linger. I tried to get warmth from this, to try and get interested in what I had to do. “I remembered how much you helped me out and how gentle you were and...and...I kept wondering if there was something I was leaving behind. Then I saw you last night and...now I'm here."

Laying it on thick, I suddenly rushed forward, leaning my head against his chest. It was thick and while it was soft, it still felt strong, he was likely very athletic when he was younger. I breathed in his light, earthy musk, which, much to my chagrin, got my penis to harden. Perhaps their pheromones had taken root in my brain?

“I'm sorry!" I said into his chest, “I don't know what got into me…!"

A claw poked at the bulge in my trousers. Argus chuckled, “I think I know. Why don't you come inside? We can talk."

I felt sick at him noticing my unwanted erection, but shook such thoughts away. This was what I was here to do. Argus's paw wrapped around my wrist and he gently, but with a degree of force, pulled me inside. I didn't resist.

His penthouse was different than what I remember. There was still the same black, leather couch pressed up against the wall, with a stone fireplace between two sliding doors to the patio across from it; a flatscreen tv was mounted on the stone facade of the chimney. But now there was a full bar set up to the right of the door with mahogany paneling and carvings along the bottom of it of Sirians of various sizes sitting and drinking mugs of beer. At the top of the panel was a large, solid white sphere gazing blindly down at them. Perhaps it was to represent the big, white star of Sirius?

To the left of the entrance were two tall bookshelves tucked into the corner. They were also made from some exotic wood and had rows and rows of carved pictograms into the side of it depicting ancient Sirians doing menial tasks such as reading, farming, and laboring. They were stacked with old books, some of which were in languages I didn't recognize.

And there, sitting next to the nearest bookshelf and sticking out like a sore thumb, was a cheap, fiber-board computer desk with the very same Lenovo desktop I fixed for Argus, tucked away under it, whirring loudly. The monitor was shut off.

I was led to the couch and sat down, letting my bag slide onto the ground. Argus leaned over and gave me a quick rub with his cheek and walked to the bar. Cupboards creeked open and glasses rattled.

“Is Scotch alright?"

“Yes."

“No ice, just like you told me." Argus said, flashing me a wink. “I must admit, Nate, I'm still a little surprised, you showing up like this. Pleasantly so, mind you. But I thought you and Duke Horith were...well, I was certain by the time of the hunt that he was seconds away from making you the newest member of his little harem, so I backed off. Then when I met you last night, I could have sworn I tasted the sweet musk of a female Vulpeculan on you, and one whose pheromones just reeked with love for you."

Of course he would have smelled her. I was taken aback by his use of the big L-word thought. Did that mean that she was sincere?

“We, uh...it didn't work out."

“Really?" There was a glug-glug-glug as Argus poured the whisky into tumblers. “Our scents match our emotions but just as you humans can mask your facial expressions, so too can we mask our scents and can be cruel about love as well. Still, it would be strange for her to do that to a human. We all know your little noses are quite useless." Argus stepped slowly towards me, one glass in each hand.

“Well, they're not entirely..."

I was cut short by his long, slick tongue running across my lips and nose. After the pink mass had left my eyes, I was left with Argus's broad, black muzzle with its slightly droopy jowls inches away from my face. I fought off the urge to sneeze as one of his dark whiskers tickled my nostril.

“I think they're quite cute though."

“I, uh..." I slowly pushed forward, feeling his big, wet nose against the tip of mine. His hot breath exhaled, enveloping my face. “I really like yours too."

“At a loss for words, hm?"

“Sorry." I apologized, trying to think of something to say. “I'm sorry, it's strange..."

“Speak from the heart." Argus placed my drink in my palm and took a seat next to me, the leathery pads of his paws holding my cheek in place as I stared into his chocolate eyes.

“I, uh, I see your big, strong muzzle and your sharp teeth." This prompted Argus to smile, exposing his ivory fangs. “And I think how dangerous they are. How strong they are. You could force me down, tear me to shreds if you wanted, but you don't and that makes me feel...safe. Protected."

“I'll take care of you."

My heart skipped. He had a way with words. Even I was starting to feel a bit swept away, despite my preferences. Still, I suppose it made my job easier.

Cupping my free hand, he planted it on his chest. My fingers ran through his course, thick fur until they bumped over one of his nipples.

“Right there, Nate." He moaned, still gripping my wrist. With his other hand, he lifted the glass to this mouth and downed a sip of whisky.

Not having much of a choice, I continued flicking the tip of his nipple with my index finger, causing him to groan and moan with pleasure. Underneath his coat, I felt his heart began to race faster and faster. I took a sip of my drink, the heavy peat invading my nostrils. It was Islay scotch, just like when I first met him.

Argus rumbled and then suddenly leaped, shoving me down and pinning me to the couch. I dropped my glass and it rolled along the hardwood floor towards the fireplace. All I could see was Argus looming above me, his strong chest exposed and his muzzle sneaking in closer, teeth bared in a grin.

“Do you feel safe still? He whispered huskily. Leaning in and giving my neck a quick nip.

“Y-yeah." I lied. I was starting to feel a bit nervous.

Grinding his crotch against mine, he continued, whispering into my ear. “Nate, you know what kind of lover I want."

“What?"

He released one of my wrists, wrapping his paw around my neck. He did not tighten his grip, but it still caused a tingle to go down my spine.

“Full commitment." He said. “I want you by my side as long as I wish it. I want you to serve me fully and none other. Do you understand?"

His dominance rolled off him in waves. He was asking a lot and if I were a weaker, or perhaps a poorer man, I would have said yes without any hesitation. It would be an easy life, I suppose, being the personal, but beloved slave of a rich businessman. There would be no freedom, but at least in Argus's case, he was asking first.

But of course, this was all a moot point. I had no choice but to go through with this charade. If Argus was affiliated with the rebellion, his game was coming to an end and so would any of his benefits. And if he was not, I guess I'd have no choice but to serve him.

“Yes." I gasped, running my fingers across his heavy paw. “I want to be yours, forever."

Once again, his teeth bared in a grin. Uttering a low, husky growl, he leaned forward, pressing his nose against my neck and biting gently, “I want to hear that one word."

“Master."

With a quick, happy lick, he pulled back and ran his paw through my hair, “We'll have to get you fitted with a collar and get you registered tomorrow. I am very excited about this."

“But first," he paused, lightly raking me across the cheek with his dull claws, “I must freshen up. My bedroom is down the hallway past the library; wait for me there and make yourself presentable."

“Presentable?"

Chuckling, he continued. “Naked, my handsome slave."

I blushed and Argus left to a nearby washroom. The sounds of a faucet running broke out soon after. I picked myself up and immediately grabbed my fallen glass. I was about to wipe up the spilled drink when I realized that I was starting to get too into character as a slave and left it there, downing what little whisky there was left in the glass to make what followed easier. I grabbed my bag and continued towards the bedroom.

I stopped at the computer first and quietly turned on the monitor, which displayed the very same Windows 7 desktop that I installed for him. There were other icons there, including an installation of Outlook 2010, which was not there before and was open, likely Argus was using it before I arrived. But I did not have time to investigate now as there was no telling how soon Argus would emerge and no doubt me snooping around would give him an excuse to bind and punish his new slave. So I did one thing: I went into the power settings and disabled sleep mode so that it would not lock and shut off the monitor. It was on the default settings so it was extremely unlikely that Argus knew about the option and even less likely that he'd discover this change.

Argus's bedroom was relatively simple, but conveyed a degree of luxury. The bed was a king-sized affair with burgundy linens that felt as soft as silk, especially when I rubbed my now-naked body on them. There was no thick, duvet cover on it, no doubt them being unnecessary for someone with as heavy a coat as Argus; and the only other notable piece of funiture was a dark-wood dresser which was lacking any carvings or elaborate designs, but was still a fine piece nonetheless.

I made sure to put the bag underneath the bed on my side. It was an honest enough thing to do if he found out, but I still wanted to conceal it, I did not need Argus to start appropriate his new slave's property right now.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Suddenly I felt very vulnerable, sitting there naked and waiting for my master to come back. It was cold as well, the hiss of the air conditioning turning the room into a Sirian tundra. I didn't dare adjust it for fear of disfavoring myself. Soft as the sheets were, they were inadequate for keeping a human warm and I began to shiver and clutched my arms together for warmth.

Argus soon stood in the doorway, as bare-clothed as me, and his thick, brown sheath on full display for me. In his hands were a leather collar attached to a thin, chain leash.

“Like what you see?" Argus asked.

“Very much, master." It was not hard to switch from his name to the honorific as everything I was saying was essentially unnatural for me.

“It's one of Rawk's, but it should fit for now." He carefully and methodically crept towards the bed, like an animal tracking its prey.

“Where is R-Rawk?" I said, teeth chattering.

“He has been a bad boy and I had to lock him up." Argus slid onto the bed.

Pushing me onto my side, facing me away from him, he gently held my neck with one paw and slowly wrapped the collar around my neck. The fabric was soft, but a little course. Upon reaching a desired tightness, he closed it with a snap and the cold chain brushed against my back, forcing me to yelp.

“Cold? Poor thing."

There was a tug at my throat and I was pulled back, choking a little, and found my back against his warm chest. He let the chain go loose and wrapped his arms around my chest, pinning my own arms down. A single leg also came around my legs, his paw-pads resting against the top of my foot, but it also allowed his sheath to line up with my rear and I felt the tip of his penis tickle the inside of my butt.

“Feels good, doesn't it?"

Honestly, it did. Argus's thick fur was like a blanket and with his arms wrapped around me, I felt oddly secure. Even the collar, despite it causing my breathing to go short when it was irritated, had caused a strange sensation: it amplified every minor pleasurable thing. Normally I wouldn't feel such enjoyment from the tip of his penis teasing my anus, but when the collar tightened, I felt a creeping pleasure in my rear. Likewise, when his muzzle started to rub up against my cheek, every inch of the whole experience was heightened, from his cold, wet nose sending a shock down my spine, to his whiskers tickling my cheek, and then his thick fur on his cheek massaging me.

Still, it would have been better if it had been a girl doing it and my thoughts trailed back to Rit.

“Yeah..." I sighed, which turned into a gasp as I felt a shock of cold in my anus, followed by a finger entering. I was so lost in the moment, I didn't even notice he had grabbed a bottle of lube. His dull claw found its mark and poked my prostate expertly, forcing me to moan with pleasure.

“Wait, I'm not sure..."

Argus chuckled, removing his finger and wrapping his free hand around my chest, the other tightening the chain. “Let me take control and I'll show you pleasure."

I surrendered and went limp. I had a job to do and this was it. He wrapped his legs around mine, and used his free hand to position and guide me. Soon enough, I felt the tapered tip of his cock slide into my lubed anus. I was no longer sore from my evening with the Duke, but I began to have flashbacks to the pain I experienced and I clenched automatically. Argus's cock remained halfway in and he halted.

A long, wet tongue ran across my cheek.

“Relax. This is what you wanted."

It wasn't. It really wasn't.

I couldn't loosen up. I tried, but I couldn't relax.

“Guess we'll have to make you, hm?"

Before I could ask what he meant, I felt his sharp fangs suddenly clench against my lower neck, just below the collar. A heavy growl emerged from his throat and I went limp, submitting to the alpha male who was dominating me. This gave Argus the chance to get his entire shaft inside and I barely noticed or felt it until it brushed against my prostate, once against forcing me to shiver.

His teeth relaxed and his tongue lapped against the spot he had bit. Something warm and wet trickled down the back of it and I had hoped it was merely saliva.

“Works on everyone. Sirian, human, male, female. Always works." Argus sighed, relaxing and only gently probing me with his cock. “I've been wanting to do this since we first met."

I expected the blinding pain from my time with Horith to return, but it didn't. Either Argus was gentler or perhaps smaller, but it was almost feeling pleasurable in comparison. Ironic, since I was being treated as a slave by Argus while the Duke was...okay, he probably viewed me the same way, but still, I was laid by him without a collar (Even if the collar felt good when Argus tugged on it.).

Perhaps I'm just really into S&M regardless of my partner's gender? I still was straight, I knew that much, even as I had a Sirian businessman's cock up my ass, but perhaps I had a fetish that was overriding my preference.

Then again, this was perhaps just me trying to distract myself as Argus pulled back and began pounding.

“Tight ass...guess I am your first..."

I didn't correct him.

His claws dug into my chest tightly. I felt his hairy stomach slap against my back as he thrusted and thrusted, sending waves of pleasure through my spine.

“Fuck. Do it harder, master!" I screamed out unwillingly.

He complied. It began to hurt a little, but I bit my lip to keep from crying out and it still felt good, despite everything.

The collar constricted against my throat, nearly cutting off my air. More concerning was the constriction that was happening down below. I felt the base of his shaft grow with each thrust, to the point where it was starting to feel round, like a ball inflating.

I knew what this was from my time with the Duke. I was glad that I was on my side being taken from behind, so that Argus didn't see the fear on my face as I braced for the knot.

Argus gave another powerful thrust, popping in the newly forming knot past my anus. I let it out and screamed with pain.

“You like that, slave!?"

“Yes!" I lied. But I wasn't going to pass out this time. Whether this was a mercy or not, I cared not. I wanted to feel everything good and bad, and remember.

The knot was growing, pushing against my insides. It almost felt like I was going to get torn up, but it never happened. Argus has no need of the collar now and let it slack. I was stuck to him. He reached his other arm under my head and grabbed me from above the shoulder.

His thrusts grew shorter, due to the constriction, but he tried to keep them powerful. Despite the pain, he still managed to hit me right in the sweet spot and make me moan. He panted heavily, tongue occasionally slapping against my neck. He was getting tired.

Finally, I felt something warm shoot deep into my rear. His hot semen was stuck inside me, trapped. He gave one final thrust and rested the side of his muzzle against my cheek, his tongue lolling out and across my lips.

“Did you..." He gasped, hot air plastering my face. “Did you finish?"

“No master." I said, being careful not to bite the loose tongue that was dangling across my face. “But it's okay, I'm just glad..."

Leathery paw-pads wrapped around the base of my shaft, which I was surprised to find that it was rock-hard. His paw began stroking up and down, slowly and then building up speed.

“Master, you don't have to..."

“I want to."

Great. He expected me to come as well. This was difficult for me, especially with his knot still tied with my ass, so I tried to think of other things.

I thought of Rit. Of her slim, black paws wrapping around my cock. I looked down and couldn't pretend that Argus's heavy, brown paws were hers. If he were doing oral, I could just close my eyes and believe his long tongue running against the tip of my cock were hers, but being stuck to him for the near future, that wasn't likely.

Still, against all odds, I found myself gasping and my cock throbbing. His strokes grew to lightning fast speeds and his callused pads were tough, but just soft enough to stimulate. Soon enough, my penis erupted and I shoved the sheets off, allowing it to shoot off the bed and onto the floor.

“Good slave." Argus patted me on the head gently and then stopped, his breathing slowing.

“Master?"

All I got in return was a deep, growling snore erupting into my ear. With his muzzle still on my cheek and his tongue still drooping and dripping with saliva, I had front row seats to the snoring.

Still, despite the rumbling growing louder, I pushed myself back against his chest, feeling the warmth of his fur coat radiate across me. If it turned out that Argus was innocent, I'd probably be stuck with him, just like my ass was stuck to his cock; so I had to prepare for the worst and find the good in all of this.

And if he wasn't innocent, I had to find evidence soon, and his snores would help keep me awake.

One hour later and I had not gotten a wink of sleep. At least, I presume it was an hour, for there was no clock inside Argus's bedroom.

He was still wrapped around me, snoring up a storm. I needed to make my move and do it carefully.

Staring with the arm that reached over my shoulder, I slowly shifted myself until I was able to get my hand free. Placing my palm atop his paw, I carefully lifted it and moved it over, placing it at his side and releasing. It went limp.

His other paw was, despite his slumber, clutching at my chest with his claws. I shifted closer towards his chest, freeing up enough room so that I could squirm free without getting scratched and shuffled away.

I paused as his snoring ceased and he began to stir. His tongue went back into his mouth and he started growling like a dog. Soon that came to an end and he was back to snoring.

Lastly was his legs, which there was really no subtle way of doing it. I just pulled my legs free, making sure not to aggravate him or worse, tickle him. I was free.

Sliding to the end of the bed, I planted my feet on the ground and reached under the bed, into the back. I palmed the portable drives immediately.

I debated whether or not to grab the needle or not. Argus was sound asleep and I was not some expert secret agent. Despite breaking free without him waking, I doubted that I could stab him in the neck, inject him, and get away. I also didn't know how quick the stuff was and if Argus woke up, he was way stronger than me and would make me pay.

My debate was cut short by a sharp yank on my collar, pulling my ass back onto the bed.

“Where are you going, slave?" Argus whispered with a hint of teasing malice.

“W-washroom." I stammered, keeping my hand with the drives shut tight. I turned to face Argus, who was still lying lazily on his side, only a slight hint of his chocolate eyes showing between heavy, brown lids.

“You didn't ask permission."

“M-may I go to the washroom, master?"

“Proceed, slave." Argus smiled wickedly and shut his eyes. “I'll have to think of a punishment if you do this again though."

There was no time to grab the needle. I quickly shuffled out of the room, closing the door behind me quietly.

To my surprise, as soon as I left, I heard the echoing rumble of snores behind the door. That old dog was one heavy sleeper, but it was the chance I needed.

I flicked on the monitor and plugged in the USB to the back of the tower. Immediately, I muted the sound just in time for the driver to begin installing, which it did quickly enough.

Loading up the drive, I found several installers for something simply called “Viewer." Remote software, I presumed. I suppose if I were to fail myself, the Claw would be able to covertly browse his computer. I felt oddly relieved by this blatant intrusion of privacy and immediately double-clicked and ran it. The installer was silent and if it weren't for the Viewer.exe process running in Task Manager, I wouldn't have known it ran at all.

Emails were a good place to start, so I loaded up Argus's Outlook. It took a long time to load, almost a minute, and I noticed that it was not cached locally and he had two emails set up, one of which was for @argus.com, which was obviously a work account, while the other was a hodgepodge of random letters. Looking at the server it connected to, it was a private Exchange server with a name I could not even begin to remember, it was mostly gibberish as well.

The email contents themselves were much clearer, however they were also in Vulpeculan, a language that was not only basically impossible for a human to learn, but unlike Regulian, there was no direct auto-translator to English for it. There were tools to translate it to Regulian, but their written language is also beyond me. If I weren't in a stealthy situation, I could have a diction program read out the Regulian, but that would be a good way to end up in chains here, so I would have to auto-translate it to Regulian and then to English. Which was a good way to completely butcher all three languages.

And no, I have no idea who wasted their time making a plugin for an obscure, alien language in an outdated version of a human email client.

I loaded up the internet and thankfully, Argus had paid for a decent internet package and I was able to access the auto-translators I needed without getting prompts to, “Pay an extra ten dollars a month and get access to 100 news websites, 20 gaming networks, and 10 galactic streaming programs!" The internet was not the loveable anarchist that it was pre-invasion.

Pausing, I listened for the rumble beyond the door. Hearing it again, I scanned through the emails for anything that looked juicy.

I didn't need a translator for the juiciest one I found in Sent Items. The image attached to it spoke for itself and my jaw nearly hit the floor.

It was a picture of Litho, at the Duke's party. He was looking to the side at a bushy-tailed Vulpeculan's rear. But the real focus of the picture was a slender, black-furred man in black robes, holding out a needle from his sleeve over Litho's drink. I'd recognize who that man was working for in an instant, he had the same modifications that Aleesh had to make her look like a black jackal. It was one of her bodyguards.

I ran the two tools on the text and got the following:

“What are you doing? This is against the plan, you are operating very soon!"

The translation was awkward, but the key details were still there and incriminating. I searched and found the response.

“He knows He caught your little rebel and talked. Pin it on that a sweet human of yours or I will do it with you. The king will present him to the emperor, and when he dies, he dies, who will appoint him heir?"

This was also incriminating, if terribly translated. It was all making sense now. My only concern was that this email was also nonsense. To me, it seemed obvious that this was Aleesh trying to pin Litho's death on me, but the email did not actually refer to her and it could seem like Argus was talking to her bodyguard.

Argus's response:

“Treacherous bitch! The Commonwealth does not mean anything to you!"

To which he got one final email from this responder:

“I do not care about your Sirians or Lupiads. And your men will soon know they will continue to be slaves, because you do not give it. But I will not be a slave, neither you nor your Masters from Lacerta."

Lacerta. This was a name I had never heard before. No one born on Earth had ever seen it until this very moment. I was the first to hear it.

And with the attached image now opened, I was the first to see them.

A picture of Argus, standing in a dusty field with a cigar hanging from his drooping lips. Next to him was a shrouded figure in a brown cloak, but a long, green, scaly snout poked out from his coverings, and running from his rear was an equally scaled tail with sharp, broad ridges running along the spine. The slightest hint of an eye was showing from the cloak, orange and full of malevolent intelligence, almost looking like it was staring at me. I shivered.

This was it. I was smart enough to assume this was the big secret the Agent was hiding from me. It would sure as hell explain why the Regulians wanted so many soldiers and the rumors about said soldiers getting their memories altered after service.

We once thought we were alone but hoped to meet others. Then we found we were not alone and wished we never met them.

And now, we realized that even the Regulians had someone they wished they had never met.

No, this was all speculative. I was jumping to conclusions. I needed to see more. I needed to dig deeper. My gut was sore and telling me to stop, to just walk out the door and let things happen.

But I couldn't. I had to continue.

I found another chain from someone else to Argus and this one was in English:

“You're our "benefactor" aren't you? I found your email from the Captain's account.

You fucking traitorous dog. Your Democratic Commonwealth was all a big lie, wasn't it? You're collaborating with the Lacertan Empire, and yes, I know who they fucking are.

I'll take the cats over them. I've seen you plans, you want to give them half the fucking planet and displace the humans. I've seen your fucking business ads, extoling the virtues of human laborers. Guess you think we're dumb enough to trust a scaled hand on our chains over a furry one?

I'm coming for you."

Argus's reply, which was in Vulpeculan once again:

“I appreciate your worries. I really do it.

We can not unite with all Sirius and Lupus as soon as possible. To ensure the survival of the Commonwealth, we have to cooperate with Lacertans.

I can not make sure, no land demand or no plans have come from them on Earth.

When we get the victory of the Regulians, we will work to fight Lacertans and their bastards."

The last reply came back from the same man in English:

“I know what they did to Procyon. You don't fool me, dog."

Whatever Argus's intentions were, it was clear his rebellion was off the rails. He didn't have support from Sirius or Lupus and he was dealing with another Empire that seemed less trustworthy. Perhaps it was our internal bias against reptiles in favor of the big kitties, despite said kitties having sharp claws that they use a lot. But I didn't see this going anywhere good and it's not like I had a choice in the matter.

If Argus had malicious intent from the start, he deserves whatever he gets. If he really believed in his Commonwealth, then, and I was sorry for this, but he needed to be stopped because it was clearly going to end in failure. I didn't find anything but negative emails in his account.

What surprised me the most was that there was not a single mention of any conspiracy on the King's life. Argus had plenty of emails where he talked about using Horith in order to be the first King of his Commonwealth soon after the death, but not a single email implicated him nor anyone else.

I was already pushing my luck. I exported the emails to a .PST archive, which was rather small, all things considered; and was about to load up the FTP when I saw a pop-up in the lower right corner, showing a new email has come in.

It was from Argus's work account and curiosity got the better of me. I switched to it and found an email from larga@argus.com titled “Listen to what your boytoy did to me," and it had a sound file attached to it. I did not open it.

I jumped. Argus's snoring was broken by a loud, “BEEP-BEEP," coming from inside his room. There was muffled rustling followed by silence.

Then I heard moans of pleasure that I recognized as my own, followed by Larga's.

I closed everything and shut off the monitor. Heavy footsteps were coming closer to the door. I had no time to escape. I silently leaped to the washroom, flushed the toilet and sauntered out just in time to see Argus slam open his bedroom door and bare down on me, fangs exposed. A cellphone was in his hand.

His paw grabbed me by the front of the collar and slammed me against the wall. I cringed, opening my eyes to find his brown eyes intensely staring at me. I couldn't help but look down, only to see his white, sharp teeth inches away from my neck.

“My daughter..." He growled, tightening his grip. “My daughter!"

“I can..." I choked as his claws dug in and I felt blood trickle down my neck. “I can explain. She..."

“Came onto you? I'm sure." He snorted sharply. “But you should have known better! You should have known!"

“I didn't know..."

Argus growled violently, the top of his muzzle wrinkling back and his hackles raised. I honestly expected him to kill me right then and there, especially as his grip tightened around my collar and I found that I couldn't breathe.

“I should have you castrated for this! I should sell you to some cruel master on the other side of the galaxy, I know plenty!"

My head began to float away and I started lamely slapping Argus on the chest.

“But no, no, no no..." His hackles lowered, but his muzzle was still wrinkled and his teeth peeled back. “I was going to send you there anyway...send you there until things calm down...but I'll have them teach you a lesson...yes..."

I tried to say that I was choking but all that came out was a pained hack.

“They'll teach you to be obedient...they will...and you'll meet such exotic people..."

His muzzle straightened out and his lips covered up his teeth. He leaned in close, still choking me.

“I'm not angry, just disappointed." He pressed his nose against mine and rubbed intimately. I didn't feel anything as my vision was fading along with all my other sensations. My lungs were empty and just about to burst.

“I will come for you...when everything has calmed down. Don't worry, Nate. I love you."